Due to health issues, the White Stripes have canceled all remaining tour dates through the end of the year, this includes all dates in the U.K. this Fall.

Fans can obtain refunds for their tickets at point of purchase, except for Austin City Limits Festival which is nonrefundable due to it being a festival. If you purchased your tickets for any of the canceled shows via a fan pre-sale on the band’s web site, please email tix@musictoday.com for refunds.

Jack and Meg thank all their fans their understanding and well wishes. Send good vibes!

I apologised for the lack of timely updates. I’ve gone unbelievably sick since the day I turned 28 on June 11. Trust me, I’ve seen better (and younger) days. Anyhoo, here are some updates that everyone already knew

Sexy photos at the Zenith, Paris show on June 11 can be found at here. You can download the bootleg here too. Thanks to Sodwee a.k.a Ben from www.redcandycane.net.

The White Stripes will be performing a very special show in West Hollywood, CA on June 20. The band will play a live show for fans at a specially constructed “Icky Thump Records” store on Sunset Boulevard. The location of Icky Thump Records is the site of the former Tower Records flagship store at 8801 W. Sunset Blvd. Tickets for this unique performance will be made available to the first 200 fans who purchase the album at this store, which opens at midnight on Monday, June 18th. Tickets are limited and will be given on a first come, first served basis. A handful of tickets will also be available to listeners of KROQ radio from Friday, June 15 - Sunday, June 17. The Icky Thump Records performance will be the band’s first Los Angeles show since December 2005.

Those who can’t make it to the Bonnaroo Festival on June 17 and the special appearance at West Hollywood, CA on June 20, you can log on to AT&T for a special webcast at: www.attblueroom.com/music.

New show at the The Fillmore @ Irving Plaza has been added on June 19.

Hello Children,We have lots of very exciting news for you today. Can’t wait to hear Icky Thump? Well the wait is over, you can hear a stream of the album in its entirety starting tomorrow, June 12th, until June 19th by visiting MTV’s site here.If you live in the UK, don’t forget to pick up the 3 formats of the “Icky Thump” single that were released in stores today (this includes the white etched 7″ that is the companion to the red “Rag and Bone” 7″ that was released for free on the cover of NME last week).

Heard the stream, now buy the album! The White Stripes web store is now accepting pre-orders for Icky Thump in CD and LP format. For a limited time, orders for the CD will include a free set of 3 button badges. The LP is double vinyl in a gatefold sleeve and is pressed on 180 Gram vinyl and for a limited time will come with a custom peppermint turntable slip mat.

But wait…there’s more. We also have a very limited-edition pressing of the “Icky Thump” single on 12-inch 180 gram vinyl with an etching on the B-side. Only 300 were pressed. Limit one per order.

And lastly, Icky Thump is also available in a new format: Jack and Meg USB drives. Custom created for The White Stripes, each 512-megabyte drive contains a copy of their new album in the Apple Lossless Format. There were only 3,333 of each drive created. Visit The White Stripes web store here.

From the official mailing list:

The White Stripes will be playing a special show at London’s Rivoli Ballroom on Tuesday, June 12th. Set in Crofton Park, The Rivoli Ballroom is one of London’s last remaining ballrooms and with the original decor from the 1950’s still intact, offers fans a way to see Jack and Meg perform in a more intimate and incredible setting.

Tickets will be available beginning Monday, June 11th at 10am for £29.50 each from LiveNation.co.uk and gigsandtours.com. Please note that due to the limited number available, tickets will be strictly capped at two per application. Doors for the event open at 7:30 pm but lucky applicants can present themselves at the venue from 5:30 pm with both their booking confirmation and photo ID to collect their wristband for admission.

Profits from the show will be donated to the Chelsea Pensioners’ Appeal and charities supported by The London Pearly Kings and Queens Society.

In other news…

Grinderman (Nick Cave, Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos) and the legendary Porter Wagoner (featuring Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives) will be opening for the Madison Square Garden in New York City on July 24.

The special NME issue that comes with the red etched 7″ of “Rag And Bone” is out now. For international fans, you can order the issue here. The song is also available from US and Canada iTunes stores here.

Wendy Holman has also sent in a couple of links to various online articles. They can be found at:

Dose.ca: Jack White: Junk Collector

TheAge.au: Country matters

GASP. GASP. GASP.

“Icky Thump”

“Effect And Cause”

“My Doorbell” (with Jools Holland)

Interview

From XL Records:

Tonight! Friday June 1st - BBC2 11.35pm

The White Stripes perform on LATER With Jools Holland, unveiling two tracks, ‘Icky Thump’ and ‘Effect And Cause’ plus the old favourite ‘My Doorbell’ featuring Jack White on bass and Jools Holland on wurlitzer. This is an exclusive chance to catch two tracks from their new album ‘Icky Thump’, released in the UK on Monday 18th June.

From the official mailing list:

Hello Children,

Due to unforeseen scheduling issues, The White Stripes have had to push back some of their early September dates. The only dates affected were those between September 4-13 and all but Albuquerque, New Mexico have already been rescheduled. For a full list of rescheduled dates please visit the “shows” section. A New date for Albuquerque will be announced very soon. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused our fans.

A limited number of pre-sale tickets for the newly rescheduled Salt Lake City, Utah date at The “E” Center on September 29th will be available through the pre-sale link located at the top of the “shows” section of the site starting at 10 am MST tomorrow, June 1st. Tickets for this show officially go on sale to the public on Saturday, June 2nd via smithtix.com at 11 am MST.

And lastly, please refrain yourselves. June 18 is seriously not that far away.

From the official mailing list:

Hello Children,

On June 11th, “Icky Thump” will be released as a physical single in the UK. The week prior to this is when the free 7″ of “Rag And Bone” will be attached to the front of NME magazine, it will be specially etched red vinyl and is packaged in a sleeve designed to also house the “Icky Thump” special white vinyl.

The “Icky Thump” single will be released across three formats:

Specially etched white vinyl 7″
- Designed to fit within NME sleeve

Standard 7″
- Also includes ‘Baby Brother’ on the B side

CD
- Also includes ‘Catch Hell Blues’

You can preorder all three formats of this single for a total cost of £3 from the following mailorder stores:

RecordStore.co.uk
Townsend-Records.co.uk

You can also check out what the NME 7″ single will look like over at www.themodernage.org here. Thanks to Wendy Holman for the link!